My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Meg Munn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with the agreement of HM Treasury, has determined that it would be in the best interests of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the taxpayer if FCO Services, currently an executive agency, were to become a government trading fund on 1 April 2008. Accordingly, I have laid before the House a draft statutory instrument for affirmative resolution.

In reaching his decision, my right honourable friend has conducted a public consultation exercise and prepared an impact assessment. I have placed a copy of the analysis of responses to the consultation exercise and a copy of the impact assessment in the Library of the House.